"Barry-bashing!

"Let's Talk Politics with Adrienne Washington," from Lyndia Grant's "Think on These Things" show on WYCB-1340AM, www.MySpiritDC.com, airing Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 at 6.p.m.


Barry Bashing!


How much Barry Bashing can one American take? I’m not talking about the favorite political pastime in the DMV (District-Maryland-Virginia) region of badmouthing former DC Mayor Marion Barry. I’m talking about the colorless GOP convention where a battered President Barack “Barry” Obama was called everything but a child of God. Even the political junkie that I am, it was really hard trying to stay tuned to the Obama Hatefest that was the Republican National Convention in Tampa this week. No, no respect for the Office of the President of the United States to be found there capped off by the most bizarre “Make My Day,” spectacle of actor Clint Eastwood pretending that President Obama was using filthy curse words in some weirdo imaginary conversation with him? Not funny.

It comes as no surprise that the Republicans bashed President Obama for his fiscal policies, repeating outlandish lies about the president’s record. Former Gov. Mitt “Robot” Romney was long on criticism and short on his presidential vision to bring back jobs but the worst offender being VP candidate Paul Ryan who said President Obama closed a auto plant in his Wisconsin backyard when, in fact, it was under President George Bush that the plant was shuttered. Folks need to make sure they log on to www.FactCheck.org after these fallacy-laden speeches and view their “Truth-o-Meter.” Get their unbiased information on health care programs, for starters.

However, the worst charge against the Democratic presidential incumbent that President Obama is the main one being “divisive,” and he only issues “recriminations” is about as hypocritical as you can get. What about the colorless GOP convention did you see that was inclusive? Surely not the moment that white GOP delegates were ejected for throwing peanuts at a black CNN camerawoman with one them reportedly heckling, “this is how we feed animals.” Patricia Carroll, 34, the camerawoman said she was “not surprised,” according to Richard Prince’s blog “journalisms.” She also said the racist incident was “spurred by a lack of diversity.”

It’s too bad that Republicans continue to pass up the opportunity to tap into the pool of African Americans whose traditional religious views which actually match more of the GOP’s conservative social views, particularly on the issue of same-sex marriage. DC Council Candidate David Grosso, who participated with a group of Log Cabin Republicans in paying for ads that played during the convention which depicted happy-faced same-sex families, would do well to remember African Americans’ opposition to same-sex marriage when he returns to town to campaign for the November election.

“Where are the African American faces?" Republican commentator Raynard Jackson was compelled to ask. Exactly, in a sea of white faces on and off the stage, especially at the top of the GOP ticket, you could count the number of sightings of African American black delegates, staffers and speakers with one hand. Former RNC Chairman and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele wasn’t even invited to the convention, let alone to speak. How can its party leaders talk about bring back unity to America when its token African American speakers bashed President Obama for what they called “failed” programs and policies which they either obstructed or cut. For example, the GOP’s darling, former Sec. of State Condi Rice said President Obama, who took out Osama bin Laden, was weak on foreign policy, and, of all things education reform. Calling education the civil rights issue of the 21st Century, Ms. Rice seems to have amnesia; it wasn’t Mr. Obama who wanted to cut Pell grants, increase student loan rates, and demonize the teacher’s unions and cut their positions as part of state education budgets.

Same for Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell who touted how he and other Republican governors have better fiscal records than the Obama administration even as he downplayed social issues such as his ill-fated attempts to force women to have vaginal invasive ultrasounds before getting an abortion. Gov. McDonnell’s lackluster podium speech also did not mention the accounting gimmick he played with state employees’ pensions to balance his initial budget.

Hailing from the "Free State," one unwelcome “DMV” convention gate crasher was Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley who helped to man the Democrats “rapid response” center just outside the GOP Tampa convention hall. He angered Maryland Republicans when he criticized Romney as a “corporate buyout specialist,” and provided counter commentary during an appearance on MSMBC.

What exactly did Mitt “Robot” Romney mean when he said, “When the world needs someone to do really big stuff, you an American?” Who, to the man who has a good shot of becoming the leader of “this great nation,” constitutes “an American?” We can only hope it is more colorful and inclusive than the homogeneous peanut-throwing delegates this week sneering in the divisive "Barry"-bashing Tampa GOP convention hall.

CONVENTION-TIME!

“Let’s Talk Politics with Adrienne Washington,” on the Lyndia Grant “Think on These Things” Show on WYCB-1340AM, MySpiritDC.com.

CONVENTION-TIME!

Get ready; for the next two weeks it will be blowhard politics, politics, and more misleading extremist politics as the Republicans meet for their nominating convention in Tampa, Fla., beginning Monday followed by the Democrats flocking to Charlotte, NC for their nominating convention around the Labor Day holiday which is the traditional kickoff for an even nastier and sillier campaign season.

It’s anybody’s guess whether Mother Nature will blow hotter, heavier winds with Hurricane Isaac than the convention podium speakers whipping up all types of predictable misleading political rhetoric, especially about affordable and accessible health care, but don’t expect any big surprises regarding the candidates at the top of the presidential tickets -- Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for the Republicans and President Obama and VP Joe Biden for the Dems.

These conventions have become a big waste of time and money because today they are so tightly scripted and the candidates so slickly marketed beforehand that even a lie detector would be hard pressed to a truthful fact among the primetime speeches. For example, DMV residents will recognize the anti-teacher diatribe espoused by former DC School Chancellor Michele Rhee who will be a featured education reform speaker at the GOP convention.

DMV residents can also watch the conventions podiums for familiar faces such as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who led the GOP platform committee, to speak possibly about imposing the abortion consent law as well as turncoat Artur Davis, former Democratic Alabama Representative who moved to Virginia after losing his bid for that Alabama governor and has now gained notoriety for speaking out against the Obama administration. Don’t look for Senate candidate former Gov. George Allen who was not given a speaking role and decided to stay away from the convention to continue campaigning in his tight rematch race against his challenger former Gov. Tim Kaine, who will be speaking at the DNC convention a week later.

Speaking as well as singing in his Celtic rock band, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, seen as a future contender, will also be a featured in Charlotte. Again the District gets shortchanged. Not only has statehood for DC been left off the DNC platform this year, so has DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton been left off the speakers’ roster. DC Mayor Vincent Gray is attempting to rectify both glaring omissions, given DC’s solid support for the president, but he’s running out of time.

After all, the more substantive business is done pre-convention as each selected members formulate their party platform, or public policy on a range of fiscal and social issues. Few surprises here either. Locally, the GOP platform opposes DC statehood at the same time it asks the DC Council to loosen its restrictions on gun laws. The even farther-leaning right Republicans has reportedly adopted 11 of 15 of the grassroots Tea Party’s ultraconservative platform issues, according to press releases. That scary situation, should the Republicans win in November, means even harsher assaults on women and government budgets and those most vulnerable of Americans, children, seniors, and the poor who can least afford Draconian cuts. Doesn’t bode well for the rapidly dwindling middle class either.

No wonder the latest poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal shows a whopping zero, that’s zero percent support for the Republican ticket from black respondents. That dismal figure is less than George Bush (11 %) or John McCain (4%) got in 2004 and 2008 respectively. The president still enjoyed 94 % of black support in the poll.

As for social issues, watch the women. Isn’t odd that women’s issues, particularly contraception and abortion, have stolen center stage, but there is no high-profile woman on the ticket or even in a convention leadership role. But given the attention to such sideshows, including the craziness of so-called “forcible rape,” or “legitimate rape” put forth by Ryan and back peddling Republicans such as Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin respectively, some sane women at one of the conventions – such as the Republican Women for Obama or rising DNC star California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris (who is African/Asian) better emerge to speak sensibly on behalf of half the electorate who are not going to stand for imposing stiffer restrictions on abortions to including outlawing the procedure even as a result of rape and incest.

In fact, the Obama campaign is looking to steal thunder from the Republicans next week by launching a “Republican Women for Obama” video and the Romney-Ryan Wrong for Women Tour this weekend. The tour with stops scheduled for swing state cities, including Richmond, Va., will be led by such Democratic campaign surrogate such as Maryland’s congresswoman Donna Edwards, Georgetown University law student and women’s health advocate Sandra Flake, and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. They will remind women voters that Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in the early days of his presidency.

Stay tuned for more convention craziness. No matter; big corporate sponsored parties will be had by all either in the host cities or the millions of convention watch soirees nationwide.

And, don’t forget to check your voter registration status.

Show Me the Money $$$$

"Let's Talk Politics" with Adrienne Washington on Lyndia Grant's "Think on These Things" Show on WYCB- 1340 AM, MySpiritDC.com 8/17/12

SHOW ME THE MONEY $$$:

Even on vacation you just can’t get away from the campaigns, especially if you are trying to get a little R&R within a stone’s throw of a swing state in the DMV such as Virginia. The money that the presidential campaigns and their surrogates are spending on campaign ads alone to elect their candidates is absolutely obscene as they are expected to raise an estimated $2 billion collectively before the Nov. 6 election. $2 billion! Can you imagine how many worldwide social problems – or jobs -- even tax cuts – $2 billion could cure? Any even bigger question is what exactly does the money in American politics buy, and for whom?

Although Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has reportedly raised more money than President Obama and the Democrats in the past three months, $101 for Romney to $75 million for Obama, before his pick of VP candidate Paul Ryan, the Center for Responsive Politics’ website, www.Open Secrets.org , shows figures which indicate that President Obama has raised more at $300 million to date with $97 million still in his campaign war chest. But those funds haven’t stopped the Prez ‘s folks from begging for money – particularly from small, individual donors where more than half of his contributions are shown -- to counter the high rotation of political ads that have become the irritating soundtrack of the Summer of 2012. And, those ads don’t come cheaply. My unscientific study indicates that for every three anti-Obama ads funded by Romney-backers, there is only one pro-Obama ad aired in counter response throughout the battleground state of Virginia and its neighboring border states of North Carolina and West Virginia. So don’t be surprised when you receive those Obama 2012 campaign solicitations online and in snail mail seeking your pocket pennies and bigger bucks.

Everyone knows money talks in politics and nowhere was that more evident than in Maryland this week where the General Assembly in a special session narrowly voted to favor the money-wielding gaming industry by putting a voter referendum for Las Vegas style gambling particularly at National Habor in Prince George’s County on the November ballot. Hiding behind the possibility of more jobs, many of Maryland’s leaders like PG County Executive Rushern Baker, changed horses this time around and pushed for the referendum unlike in the past when they followed faith-based voters who are still adamantly against the slots referendum. It’s not just the expanded gaming that’s a moral and social problem for opponents like Gerron Levi, of Stop Slots in Prince George’s, but she stressed on NewsChannel 8 her worries about the nature economic development based on jobs, which are more suited to low skilled high school graduates and mismatched with the need for professional employment needed by the county residents who overwhelmingly possess college degrees. It is unclear just how much money the gaming industry ponied up but there are moves afoot to ban political contributions from gambling companies and if that prohibition will really take hold before November .

Cruising up the Potomac River, campaign contributions for November local council elections are trickling leaving candidates, such as At-Large contender Vincent Orange, with meager resources but no one knows for sure if it’s due August vacations or the chill blowing in to town due to the numerous investigations into campaign finance irregularities in the scandal-plagued nation’s capital city. Nonetheless, despite DC voter’s frustration with the corruption scandals, the grassroots group DC Public Trust was not able to get their Initiative 70, The Prohibition of Corporate Contributions Initiative of 2012, as a referendum on the November ballot.

It’s an old saying in political circles to “follow the dollars.” And we still need real campaign finance reform in this country to get the tainted dollars out of politics at every level. Want evidence? Watch the biopic ‘Casino Jack” about the once-famous Washington lobbyist to get a startling view of how money and influence peddling are the lifeblood of American politics.
And, don't forget to check your voter registration status!

And... They're Off!

Aired during "Let's Talk Politics with Adrienne Washington" segment on Lyndia Grant’s "Think on These Things" WYCB-AM show (1340 AM)  7/27/12, 6-6:30 p.m. http://www.myspiritdc.com/


Well, this week in the DMV they’re off… off to the races, off to the games, off and running for a special election that has yet to be set!

First Lady Michele Obama is leading the Presidential delegation to London and the Olympic Games pushing her healthy lifestyle program “Let’s Move.” Meanwhile her husband is campaigning stateside making appearances again in the important swing state of Virginia and appearing at the National Urban League convention in New Orleans where he touted his middle class agenda which he claims helps African Americans and where he unveiled an education initiative aimed at improving academic achievement and opportunities for African American children, in the tradition of the Urban League. Some say President Obama can bet on support from black voters again in November, but with increasingly loud dissenters, such as scholar Cornel West and talk show host Tavis Smiley, there is No Way President Obama could have passed up an invitation to the NAACP convention, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Urban League in the same election year, if he is hoping to get even half the number of blacks to the polls in November as he did in 2008.

Speaking of betting, Cha-ching $$$$$. Do you hear the sound of slot machines on the shores of the Potomac with a view of the Washington Monument in full view? The biggest and most anticipated development in the DMV this week was Gov. Martin O’Malley’s controversial call for a special General Assembly session on Aug. 9 just to deal with gaming, specifically in Prince George’s County, which will undoubtedly upset the African American religious community which has fought against additional gaming in the past. It is a foregone conclusion that legislators will approve a referendum whereby voters can decide if they want more slots and Los Vegas style gambling, primarily at National Harbor. Here is where your listeners may participate in the political process by letting their state representative know how they feel about this move for a special industry by calling, writing and joining up with supporters or proponents depending on what you want to happen. Most folks think this is a done deal and the politicians are just window-dressing by going through the legislative process when , in fact, it’s clear they want to see more slots at National Harbor but are seeking cover by stressing that the measure will bring more jobs to the county which has been hit hard by foreclosures and high unemployment.

There is some parlor room betting going on in DC, too. Would-be mayoral contenders are already soliciting supporters and donors for their fantasy candidacy-by-default sweepstakes, acting as if a special election is a foregone conclusion, and as if Mayor Vincent Gray has already been forced from office by prosecutors or the court of public opinion although he has been charged with NADA! The best bet has been placed on number 31, which is the Aug. 31 date that Gray would have to be ousted in order for the DC Board of Elections to have enough time to hold a special election before the end of the year. Now, roll the dice on the first white mayor since DC won limited Home Rule in 1973!

Don’t forget to check your voter registration status and read my blog at awashingtonnote@blogspot.com.

Gray Gone by Aug. 31?

From the "Let's Talk Politics with Adrienne Washngton" segment on Lyndia Grant's "Think on These Things" radio show on WYCB-1340AM, MySpiritDC.com, Friday, 7/20/12, 6-6:30 pm :

Gray Gone by August 31?


Today President Obama said “is not a day for politics” as he canceled a campaign event in Florida in memorial to the victims of the Colorado movie shooting in which a deranged gunman took at least 12 lives. And, I’m sure I speak for you and your listeners by sending our prayers to the families and loved ones of all those involved. And, on another day, we will discuss the political pressure exerted by the National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment groups that allows America to be the only Western nation where an individual can literally become a one-man heavily-armed militia able to kill masses.

However, we would be remiss if we did not give a passing mention to a few political happenings this week which your listeners in the DMV (District, Maryland and Virginia) might want to pay attention to:

First off, DC Ministers, Rev. Willie Wilson and Rev. Grayland Hagler, staged a supporters’ rally in front of the Wilson Building this week to counter the cries for the Mayor Vincent Gray’s resignation. My sources tell me that DC Mayor Vincent Gray will be forced out of office by Aug. 31 by federal prosecutors, the city’s business stakeholders and the court of public opinion, that mainly being at the behest of the Washington Post which released a questionable poll this week. That poll contends that the majority of DC voters, including African Americans want Mayor Gray to resign, a majority said they would now vote for former Mayor Adrian Fenty, but that none of those named as possible mayoral contenders, which include DC Council members Jack Evans, Muriel Bowser and Tommy Wells catches the voters’ fancy either. The Aug. 31 ouster date is being circulated by speculators – and DC loves nothing more than a guessing game -- in order for the Board of Elections to organize yet another special election in the District this year, potentially the third one. However, As I said last week when a third member of Gray's 2010 campaign, public relations consultant Eugenia Harris plead guilty to campaign fraud for operating a $650,000 “shadow campaign,” Mr. Gray should not resign until he has either been charged and convicted of a crime, or the DC voters go through the legal political process to recall him.

Speaking of polls, which I will remind you are mere “snapshots” that take the voter’s temperature which can be like Washington’s unpredictable weather, the latest Quinnipiac poll of Virginia voters shows President Obama losing ground even after his campaign sweeps through this battleground state, and he is now even with Republican Mitt Romney, at 44 to 44 percent. The only good news here is that the president fares slightly better with Independents at 40-to 38 percent. Also, these numbers don’t seem to have any bearing on the upcoming US Senate between former governors Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen, according to last week’s poll results. Those contenders also seem to be neck-in-neck in this rematch that has been overshadowed by the oversaturation of presidential campaign adds.

In Maryland?

You’ve got to give some props to the Montgomery County Council which not only put PEPCO on the hot seat for its poor performance after massive power outages, but also put the PSC, the Public Service Commission literally on the firing line, calling on Gov. Martin O’Malley to replace them ALL, because the local offiicials charge they have not done their jobs of holding PEPCO to higher standards and punitive sanctions.

On the gambling front, some hope on the shores of National Harbor, it is still anyone’s bet if Gov. O'Malley will call a special session to placate Prince George’s leaders who want lucrative slots plus Las Vegas style gambling in their jurisdiction. This debate is setting the stage for the 2014 gubernatorial Democratic primary race pitting Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who supports the special session and gambling in his home base, against Comptroller Peter Franchot, who is against the special session because he contends that move sets up a tax break for the gaming industry.

That’s it for the DMV this week, but remember to check your voter registration status ASAP. And read my blog at awashingtonnote.blogspot.com

Join us on WYCB- 1340 AM on Fridays at 6 p.m.

"Let's Talk Politics":
Again, I know it's been awhile and I am testing a new post. In the last month, I have teamed up with motivational speaker Lyndia Grant who now has a show on WYCB-1340AM, MySpirtDC.com to contribute a brief segment, "Let's Talk Politics with Adrienne Washington." Her name;not mine. The show airs from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Fridays with my 5-minute segments airing around 6:20 p.m. Give us a listen.!
One of the main concerns I discuss is the new voter ID laws in a lot of states which some, such as the National Urban League and the NAACP contend are voter suppression tactics, pushed by Republicans, to thwart minority voters. US Attorney General Eric Holder has even called the voters ID laws a modern day form of "poll taxes," which were imposed during Reconstruction to deter black voters. In any case, I have been telling our WYCB listeners to make sure they check their voter registration status so they will not be surprised come time to cast their ballots in November. 

From the "Why I Teach" Files

OK, I asked and my student answered.

Question: What new skills or insights have you learned so far this semester?

Answer: "To be more relaxed when I write; to write a thesis, and
that not all English teachers are A-holes."

Yes, she actually turned it in.

Add this to another "Why I Teach" favorite: "Professor, you're giving us information overload!"

P.S. And speaking of information overload, while I'm at it: "Why don't we know these things?" "Why doesn't anybody tell us?" These are questions from an outraged student, an Eastern European immigrant, after I showed a documentary, "Out of Obsurity," about a little-known 1939 library "sit-in" when five young black men in Alexandria, Virginia protested their inability to get library cards and use the new "white" library that ALL Alexandria taxpapers funded, simply because of the color of their skin.
Remember, this outraged student is of the generation that was taught how to pass standardized tests; not any standard or useful content.